Pioneer Valley Planning Commission

Welcome to the last Pioneer Valley Progress Report of 2023! It continues to be an honor to lead the wonderful group of public servants here at the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission as we head into 2024 and this past month's accomplishments continue to demonstrate our ability to serve the communities of Hampden and Hampshire Counties within and across their respective municipal boundaries. Below you will find updates on our efforts to make our streets safer, our natural and built environments more resilient, and our housing more affordable. And while we love to dig in and do deep dives into these important topics, our work in Age Friendly planning reminds us that at its heart, quality of life is really the intersection of all these factors and more. ? From all of us here at the PVPC, have a wonderful holiday season and a happy New Year! ? -Kimberly H. Robinson

Welcome back to another Pioneer Valley Progress Report! This week we marked 61 years of service to the 43 cities and towns of Hampden and Hampshire County at our Fall Reception in Holyoke, where we were able to enjoy welcoming remarks from Mayor Joshua A. Garcia (a PVPC alumnus) as well as honoring contributions to the region by MA Rural Affairs Director Anne Gobi and Springfield Water and Sewer Commission's Josh Schimmel, whose organization's accomplishments you'll read more about in this newsletter. We were also extremely honored to be recognized for our efforts to expand economic equity in the clean energy sector this month by MassINC's Gateway Cities Innovation Institute and have more to share on convenings and planning work happening across our communities - large and small. ? Please find further details on these updates and more in this month’s Pioneer Valley Progress Report! ? -Kimberly H. Robinson

The Municipal Digital Equity Planning services PVPC will be providing Springfield will look at both cold hard quantitative analysis, as well as the equally real human perceptions on digital equity of the people of Springfield. ? At the end of the day, this work in about opportunity and inclusion for communities ready to embrace all of the 21st century digital resources available.

This month we are reflecting on the breadth and depth of our service to the people and places of our region. Last week we marked 25 years since the establishment of the Southern Hilltowns Domestic Violence Task Force and we will be celebrating 30 years of effort by the Connecticut River Cleanup Committee in a few weeks. In both cases, our agency was able to help convene stakeholders across jurisdictions to address shared challenges and sustain them over the course of decades - as is our mandate as a regional planning agency. This is October's Pioneer Valley Progress Report!

Join us this Wednesday for our Pioneer Valley Cyber Security Regional Forum presented in partnership with the MA Executive Office of Technology Services and Security!